The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 05, 1975, Image 5

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    Bait music review
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By JOHN VANORE
I hate to do this. I really do! I’ve
been a Bowie freak for over two
I years, and, despite the fact that he’s
‘i an admitted fag, I always thought he
i played great music.
So now I’m disillusioned. I sat
and listened to “David Live” and
tried real hard to like it. And some
times I succeeded. But most of the
times I wished that RCA had plug
ged the spindle holes with No-Doz.
“Sweet Thing, the longest cut on
the four sides (8:48), seemed to drag
(no pun intended) on forever. There
[ is also a wimpy rendition of “All the
Young Dudes,” but Mott’s version,
which is getting a lot of airplay, is
vastly superior.
Ya wanna know what’s wrong?
asssgaai , ia
rvn ■ Plenty! For starters, the album is
flat — no dimension. The band, ten
artists from various points in
Bowie’s recording career and road
musicians, fades into the back
ground and Bowie stands out in the
fore, smothering the others. This
performance is where he really
needed Mick Ronson, his outstand
ing former lead guitarist, who set
out first as a solo artist and most
recently signed on to play lead with
Mott the Hoople.
And if you ever listened to “Get
Yer Ya-Yas Out,” the live Stones
album, you’d know how a live album
should sound. Give the originals a
swift hop in the pants and turn them
inside out. Change ’em around
some. Even considering the less-
slp inti
than-professional recording quality,
I have a bootleg double by Bowie
recorded about two and a half years
ago that really sounds great. It’s one
of my favorite albums because of the
new light he shines on his older
material.
Next gripe — he pushes the new
stuff too much. Fully six songs outof
the seventeen are from his most re
cent album, “Diamond Dogs.”
C’mon, Davie, you could have done
more of the older numbers rather
than plug your latest release.
Finally, Bowie and his band seem
to be playing “What’s That Song?”
with the listeners. I barely recog
nized one of the intros, and the voc
als often sounded rushed or slurred.
Of course the album has its good
points — I always liked “Rebel
Rebel” and “Width of a Circle,” and
it would take a conscious effort to
ruin those songs. “Changes” here is
vastly superior to the studio ver
sion, but that’s like saying that
platinum is more valuable than gra
nite. “Suffragette City and “Rock
and Roll Suicide” also shine
through, especially since the latter
is well suited to be done solo. So
here Bowie doesn’t come across as a
grandstander.
When I got this album to write it
up, I pulled out all my Bowie mater
ial, both legit and bottleg, for com
parison. Where I had three record
ings of the same song, I listened to
each in succession to form some sort
of evaluation. It came out like this:
Tower blocks radar
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By T. C. GALLUCCI
Staff Writer
Not only is the new water tower
blue, but it also obstructs radar.
The tower extends 19 feet and 4
inches up into the radar beam, said
Dr. Vance E. Moyer, Meteorology'
department head. As a result, it
blocks out 20 percent of the beam
from the Oceanography and
Meteorology Building.
“The tower is right on our com
pass bearings to Rockdale, Texas. If
a severe storm hit there, to us it
would appear as a moderate one. A
I moderate one would seem to be a
slight one, and a slight one might
not appear at all,” said Vance.
J.O. Adams, director of future
planning and construction, exp-
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THE BATTALION Page 5
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1975
a disillusionment
AAMCO^
AAMC0
TRANSMISSIONS
‘‘America’s Largest Transmission Specialist"
1215 TEXAS 822-0109
where the original framework was
set up in the studio, the bootleg
made the song jump out crisp and
fresh. But, on “David Live,” the
songs were about as limp as David’s
wrist by comparison. However, as I
said before, he’s pushing a lot of new
stuff, so such triple comparisons
were possible in only a half-dozen
cases. But the point was not lost on
me.
This concert was obviously done
with the specific objective of cutting
an album in mind. It’s too re
strained, too predictable, whereas
the bootleg is far more free
wheeling. Bowie, in the latter in
stance, just wasn’t aware that his
performance was being preserved
for posterity. Another thing is that
the whole album was recorded at
two shows at the Philadelphia
Tower. On the other hand, the
Doors’ “Absolutely Live,” for in
stance, was culled from eleven
months of touring, so that only the
best cuts were used.
My opinion is to shake this album
off. You’ll only get to hear a shadow
of what the originals sounded like.
Drill, shooting matches held
The State Championship Drill Meet and Texas Aggie Junior Invitational
Rifle Match will be held this Saturday and Sunday. Marching competition
will be held Saturday on the MSG drill field from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The
rifle matches will be held at the Kyle Field 12-point range from 7 a.m. to 7
p.m. and on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Poetry prizes awarded
Winners of the top four prizes in A&M’s first poetry contest will be
announced at 8 p.m., March 12, in Rudder Forum. Also featured at the
awards program will be a reading by poet Greg Kuzma.
Stick with the originals you already
have and keep you eyes peeled for
the bootleg — it’s on the Trade
Mark of Quality label.
By the way, on the album jacket
you’ll see Bowie wearing a 40’s-style
zoot suit in place of his usual se-
quined leotards. But nothing un
derneath has changed. He’s still the
same old bisexual Bowie.
I realize that the tone of this arti
cle may offend those of you in the
Gay Liberation Movement. If you
are among this group, don’t gripe at
the Batt — they only print what I
write. If you care to, you can take
issue with me, once you get past the
Claymore mines.
I-told-ya-so Dept. . . . Who went
to see Olivia? Great, huh? But what
I really want to point out is the third
song she did. It’s called “Love
Song,” and it’s off “Tumbleweed
Connection,” and you may recall
that about a week ago I made a big
stink about it in my Elton John re
view. Most people who really ap
preciate music prefer something
like “Love Song” over the “Honky
Cat” genre. Like Olivia-baby.
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Also: Live Entertainment Tuesday through Saturday
and Happy Hour Mon-Wed 7-9
Spring break trips
lained that after considerable dis
cussion among members of the
Board of Directors, they decided
this was the only acceptable loca
tion.
“I’m not sure if it was known
ahead of time, but I don’t consider it
a real bad situation as it is. This
water tower is not taller than the
existing tower. After all, it is only 20
percent of 360 degrees,” said
Adams.
The problem was realized before
the tower’s construction, but at that
point it was too late to change any
plans, said Moyer.
“What I don’t understand is that
they spent all this time constructing
a 15 story building to avoid obstruc
tions and now they start building
obstructions,” said Moyer.
Trips to Big Bend National Park and Buffalo River/Boston Mountains area
of Arkansas have been planned by the Outdoor Rec. Committee for spring
break. Those interested in the Big Bend trip should meet in rms. A, B and E
in the Student Programs Office of the MSG at 7 p.m. on March 6.
Those interested in the Arkansas trip should meet in rms. N & O in the
Student Programs Office at 7:30 p.m., March 6.
JERRY H. BIRDWELL, JR. 822-1559
Jerry Birdweil is a specialist in the Optional Retirement
Program and other tax shelters to provide future financial security
for faculty, staff and all professionals. He understands the prob
lems and opportunities peculiar to your profession, and would
like to be of service to you.
Jejfjjpsim
3200 So. College Ave.
P. O. Box 3667
Bryan, Texas 77801
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